WELCOME

to the Center for Endangered Languages Documentation (CELD)

There are more than 700 hundred languages spoken in Indonesia. Around 280 of these languages are spoken in Papua. Many of them currently undergo a rapid reduction in usage and number of fully competent speakers. Over the next generations, it is thus likely that many of these languages could disappear, often together with the specific cultures of the speech communities.

The Center for Endangered Languages Documentation

works with speech communities in Papua in documenting their language and their culture

trains local linguists, students, and experts in state of the art documentation techniques

supports teachers, government agencies, artists, and activists in developing and using materials in local languages

is committed to establishing sustainable structures to access linguistic and anthropological data from all over the world at the State University of Papua (UNIPA)